Very Frustrated - can’t find good deals

[Carlos Soto]

Sorry folks just need to vent.

I’ve had a heck of a time finding good deals in Albuquerque. I have networked and established good relationships with 2 realtors that work with investors and a broker.

After a couple months I’ve come up empty. A lot of people don’t have cash to start but I do. I have 200k cash ready for a great deal for a fix and flip or a good buy and hold but nothing so far. Maybe I need to get more creative but finding that elusive good deal has been tough so far.

Any good advice or suggestions to overcome this problem and get going on this idea of Real Estate being the best investment I can make in my life?

Sorry just frustrated right now...

[Corby Goade]

I hear this all of the time, mostly from new or novice investors. Sure, when the market is hot, the point of entry is higher and competition can be fierce. What newbies tend to forget is that you benefit from that on the back side- when you sell your flip, competition will be fierce, and your profit should be, in relative terms, higher. 

Primary home buyers suffer from the same logic- "I want to sell now, because I have $XXX in equity, that's a ton of money!" Then they realize they have to buy in the same market that they just sold in. 

When the market is down, you can find deals much more easily...but remember, your sale price will be lower, and in turn your profit will be lower. With very rare exception, you can't have it all. 

[Sam Shueh]

Keep track of home sales of interest on a spread sheet. Asking price, your estimate and sold. Soon you need not look inside and able to estate close to the market value. This is the calibration part. 

Once you have a good expectation of home values you can move in. It may take a couple of tries.   

Good luck.

Sam Shueh

[Greg Schildgen]

@Carlos Soto Be aware of what part of Albuquerque you invest in. My brother-in-law and I have been looking in Albuquerque about 6 months back and anything that we looked at,  that cash flowed, was in a part of town that attracts a crowd that we did not want to deal with. I live in Santa Fe, NM and the home prices up here are much higher but the crime rate is lower and rents are higher. My wife and I live in a triplex that we rehabbed the middle unit for my wife's grandparents back in August and the 2-1 is renting for 1350/month. I currently don't know what the mortgage is on the triplex but the last tenant in the middle unit was paying 850/month. That may be a place to look as well: looking for places that are below market rent. With Cash, there is not a mortgage  payment as a holding cost, so raising rents and waiting longer to find good tenants is something that you could do. I would suggest that you also install a security system in your units while the units are sitting empty. I drive for a living around Santa Fe, NM and see empty houses quite often so I would recommend reaching out to someone that does as well in ABQ, if that is where you want to invest.

[Odie Ayaga]

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

Originally posted by @Matthew John:

@Rick Trivedi A private money lender simply lends his money (similar to a bank) at a fixed interest rate (usually higher than a bank) and their money is secured by the asset itself. 

I think it's one of the safest strategies to earn consistently passive returns, but you should also be aware of the deal your money is going in. Usually lenders will lend out on purchase price + rehab. 

Feel free to reach out to me via DM, I'd be happy to go more in depth with you if interested!

@Damaine Senior It's a great way for investors to get involved or even get their foot in the door to Out of State Investing, especially in markets in the Midwest. 

 Perfectly legit is lending.   However you do realize the borrowers are those who couldn't get financed by a lending institution.

Your clients will be the best of the worst...………..lol.  Not exactly a low risk bunch.

Price point matters. A few years back you could get a unit @160,000. On the dreaded MLS, quite a few. Now at 240,000 not so great-meThinks.

 Maybe I'm misreading your post, but there's no correlation between someone you lend your money out to as a hard money lender or private money lender being "borrowers who couldn't get financed by a lending institution" or "the best of the worst". There are plenty of successful and trustworthy people in real estate who take on hard money or private money loans and they are some of the safest returns you can get in real estate and many of them use a combination of various financing methods including banks.

[Joe Greer]

@Don Konipol...... great word...

[Mark Hughes]

@Carlos Soto try the online auction sites. I’ve bought 2 in the last year in ABQ. They all need plenty of work but that’s where the fun is and sometimes you find some magic in the margins.

[Rick Stein]

Good deals are not found, they are created with exceptional financing. I don't look for distressed properties, I look for distressed sellers. If you can find free and clear properties and involve the seller in the financing, you can create wonderful deals based on the financing of the property. If the market is getting softer and interest rates are rising... Hooray! There will be fewer buyers and sellers who are "distressed" will be willing to entertain your offers. Think outside the box!

[Mark Hughes]

@Carlos Soto can you define a good deal? What criteria are you looking for? CoC return %? Value add/potential for appreciation, cash flow per unit, cap rate???